Lapland Longspur - One of Two

This bird was missing a few tail feathers which may have been why it was a little reluctant to take flight. A few minutes previous another bird had flown and disappeared into the distance and I had thought it was the only Longspur in the area. Then this bird appeared out of nowhere.

 

Pine Siskin

 Not much happening at the feeders this year as far as anything out of the ordinary. There have been a few Pine Siskins mixed in with the Goldfinches but that's about it so far.

Juvenile Male Hooded Merganser

It seems the Hooded Mergansers are better fishers than their larger relatives. At least in my experience they seem more successful in capturing prey whenever I have watched them. This is a juvenile male here with the lighter eye colour and black bill. Maybe the Common Mergansers are able to swallow their catch before surfacing since I have to assume they are successful at least some of the time although I almost never witness it.

 

Sharp-shinned Hawk - 2nd Visit

 I expected this bird would be a lot more camera shy than it was. I guess it must have been hungry to let me get these shots from relatively close range.  No shooting through windows or half open doors for these photos and I'm happy it was after a snow day in terms of backgrounds. 

Harlequin Ducks

 I can't let a Winter go by without taking some photos of Harlequin Ducks. These shots probably won't be my last for this year, as long as the ducks co-operate. 

Not a Bobcat

We recently had a couple days when the temperature plunged below minus 10 and below minus 20 celcius overnight.  We've had a pretty mild Winter up to this point. It was during one of those days when, while carrying firewood into the house that I spotted a bobcat walking down the path toward me. He turned and ran the other way while I ran to get my camera. Unfortunately the only thing I was able to photograph that day was this little male Golden-crowned Kinglet. Just a little ball of feathers, puffed up to insulate against the intense cold.